Britannia poaches Fowler to rebrand Bristol & West

Britannia, the UK’s second-largest building society, has appointed Barclays marketer Louise Fowler as head of marketing.

She replaces Alan Long, who left Britannia in February following a restructure of the marketing department (MW February 3).

Fowler, who takes over the role in September, will be responsible for developing the branding and advertising for the group. The building society is investing £10m rebranding the network of Bristol & West, which it acquired from Bank Ireland last month (MW May 26). Fowler will report to managing director for member business Tim Franklin.

She is currently marketing director of Barclays Small Business Banking and is responsible for customer strategies, propositions and campaigns for the sub-division. She joined the bank in 2003 from British Airways, where she held several marketing and general management roles. She was also responsible for putting beds in business and first class on BA flights.

Fowler led the development and launch of the national carrier’s Frequent Flyer Programme and headed the worldwide marketing communications and customer insight team. She was also general manager for sub-Saharan Africa and managing director for subsidiary airline Brymon Airways during her 15 years at BA.

Britannia currently uses McCann-Erickson Manchester for its above-the-line advertising, with media being handled via Manning Gottlieb OMD.